Chapter 28 Listen to what he says, watch what he does

Zaiyu takes a nap.The Master said: "Rotten wood cannot be carved, and a wall of dung cannot be erected. How can I punish you?" The Master said: "I started with people, listening to their words and believing their deeds; now I am with people, listening to their words And observe its actions. It is in giving and changing.” —— "The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang" (excerpt) On November 21, 2003, Premier Wen Jiabao was interviewed by Downey, editor-in-chief of The Washington Post, in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai.Downey asked: "The Dalai Lama has indicated that he has no intention of seeking Tibetan independence. Will representatives of the Chinese government meet and negotiate with the Dalai Lama and his representatives?" , did not stop the activities of splitting the motherland, and did not recognize Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory. We have noticed some of his recent remarks, but we must listen to his words and watch his actions. As long as the Dalai Lama really abandons the idea of ​​"Tibet independence" Advocate that if we recognize Tibet as an inalienable part of China's territory and Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory, we can resume contact and talks with him. The door of China's contact with the Dalai Lama is open."

"Listen to his words and watch his actions" comes from "The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang", which is what Confucius said when evaluating his disciple Zaiyu.Among the disciples of Confucius are the "Ten Philosophers", which are recorded in "The Analects of Confucius Advanced": "Virtue: Yan Yuan, Min Ziqian, Ran Boniu, Zhong Gong. Political affairs: Ran You, Ji Lu. Speech: Zaiyu, Zigong. Literature: Zigong. You, Zixia." Among them, Zaiyu and Zigong are the leaders of the "speech" department.Zaiyu is able to speak eloquently and eloquently.At the beginning, Confucius had a good impression of Jaeyu because of his eloquence, but as time went on, Jaeyu's "inhumanity" gradually became apparent.He once pointed out that Confucius' "three-year mourning" system is not advisable, and believes that it can be changed to "one-year mourning".Confucius criticized Zaiyu for being "unkind", and believed that "the child is free from the arms of his parents after three years of life. The funeral of the husband for three years is the common justice of the world."What's more, Zaiyu later slept in broad daylight instead of reading and listening to lectures, and was scolded by Confucius as "you can't carve rotten wood, and you can't smash walls of dung".

With the deepening of his understanding of Zaiyu, Confucius gradually realized that his previous view of Zaiyu was wrong, so he reflected on himself and thought that "you can win people by words, but lose Zaiyu".He said: "I started with people, listening to their words and believing their deeds; now I am with people, listening to their words and watching their deeds." It means that if you want to understand a person, you must not only listen to what he says, but also listen to what he says. Watch his actions to see if he walks the talk.Fu Xuan of the Jin Dynasty said, "It is better to listen to his words than to observe his deeds, and it is better to observe his deeds than to observe his deeds." This is what he meant.Regarding the method of "listening to his words and observing his actions", Confucius made further developments in the "Analects of Confucius·Weizheng". How thin is a person?" It means that to understand a person, one must look at the motives of his words and deeds, observe the methods he adopts to achieve his goals, and also examine what he is at ease with, that is, What is he most interested in doing.When examining a person in this way, what else can he hide?

Emphasis on "consistency between words and deeds" and "unity of knowledge and action" is also a basic principle of dialectical materialist epistemology.Only in this way can we objectively and truly grasp the object of knowledge.The purpose of Premier Wen Jiabao citing the phrase "listen to his words and observe his actions" is to hope that the international community's understanding of the Dalai clique should not just stop at his superficial expressions, but should listen to his words and observe his actions. To see whether he is consistent with his words, not just listen to what he said, but to see what he really did.